History of the Deep Space Network facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Deep Space Network |
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| Organization | Interplanetary Network Directorate | ||||||||
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Coordinates
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34°12′3″N 118°10′18″W / 34.20083°N 118.17167°W
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| Website Deepspace Network website |
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The Deep Space Network (DSN) is a worldwide system of giant radio antennas. It's like NASA's super-powerful ear and mouth for talking to spacecraft exploring our solar system and beyond!
The DSN helps NASA missions by:
- Sending commands to spacecraft.
- Receiving important data and pictures from them.
- Tracking their exact location in space.
This network was first set up in January 1958. Back then, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) used small radio stations in Nigeria, Singapore, and California. Their job was to listen to Explorer 1, America's first successful satellite.
NASA was officially created on October 1, 1958. It brought together different space programs from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force into one civilian group. The DSN became a key part of NASA's efforts to explore space.
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How Did the DSN Start?
In December 1958, JPL joined NASA. They were put in charge of designing and carrying out missions to the Moon and planets using spacecraft controlled from Earth.
NASA soon realized that every space mission shouldn't have to build its own communication system. So, they created the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (DSIF). This was a shared communication system for all deep space missions. This way, missions could focus on their science, not on building antennas.
To talk to spacecraft 24 hours a day, the DSN needed three stations spread out around the Earth. Imagine dividing the Earth into three equal slices – each station is in one slice. As the Earth spins, a spacecraft is always visible to at least one station.
The first stations were built in:
- Goldstone, California, USA.
- Island Lagoon near Woomera, Australia.
- Hartebeesthoek near Johannesburg, South Africa.
These stations were ready by 1961. They could send and receive radio signals and process data. Telephone lines connected them to JPL, where mission control was located. As more missions launched, this control room grew into the Space Flight Operations Facility. In 1963, the DSIF was officially renamed the Deep Space Network.
The DSN became a leader in developing amazing technology. This included super-sensitive receivers, huge dish antennas, and advanced systems for tracking and communicating with spacecraft.
The Mariner Era: 1961 to 1974
During this time, the DSN grew to support many important missions. It started by helping JPL spacecraft and then improved to handle new challenges.
Some of the missions the DSN supported included:
- Ranger: Missions to take pictures of the Moon.
- Mariner: Missions to Venus and Mars.
- Pioneer: Missions exploring deeper into space.
- Surveyor: Missions to land on the Moon.
- Lunar Orbiter: Missions to photograph the Moon from orbit.
- Apollo: Missions that sent astronauts to the Moon.
In 1963, the DSN upgraded its equipment to use higher radio frequencies (S-band). This allowed for better tracking of spacecraft. Also, new atomic clocks were added, which made tracking data even more accurate. This was super important for missions traveling to other planets.
As more missions were planned, a second set of stations was needed. New stations were built near Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia. These were ready by 1965.
JPL also realized they needed bigger antennas to talk to spacecraft going to very distant planets. So, a huge 64-meter (210-foot) antenna was built at Goldstone. This giant dish was six times more sensitive than the older 26-meter antennas! It started operating in 1966.
The DSN also had mobile equipment at Cape Canaveral (the launch site). This helped check spacecraft before launch and monitor them during their first moments in space. This became a permanent facility in 1965.
1966 to 1968: Busy Times for the DSN
The DSN was very busy during these years, supporting NASA's lunar programs like Surveyor, Lunar Orbiter, and Apollo. Each mission often needed its own special equipment at the tracking stations. For example, the Lunar Orbiter equipment at one station needed a whole new room built!
To make things easier, the DSN started a "multi-mission" approach. This meant using a standard set of equipment that all future missions could use. They also started using computers at the stations to decode data from spacecraft. This meant less special equipment was needed for each mission.
Another big improvement was a new way to measure how far away a spacecraft was. This used a coded signal sent to and returned from the spacecraft. This made tracking much more accurate for distant missions.
1969 to 1974: Handling Emergencies and Growth
In 1969, the Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 missions were both heading to Mars. They were in the same part of the sky, meaning the DSN had to track two spacecraft at once! This was a big challenge.
During the Mariner 6 encounter, the signal from Mariner 7 suddenly disappeared! This was an emergency. Other DSN antennas quickly searched for the lost spacecraft. They sent a command to Mariner 7 to switch to a different antenna, and thankfully, the signal was found! This showed how important the DSN was for solving problems in space.
The DSN also improved its ability to send back large amounts of data, especially pictures. This was crucial for getting amazing images from Mars.
By this time, the DSN expanded its number of antennas even more. New 26-meter and 64-meter antennas were built in Australia and Spain. Some older stations were closed down as the network became more centralized and efficient. For example, the Woomera station in Australia was decommissioned in 1972.
The Mariner 10 mission, which flew past Venus and then orbited Mercury, pushed the DSN to its limits. It needed the network of 64-meter antennas and special upgrades. Engineers even used a technique called "arraying" antennas, where signals from several antennas are combined to act like one giant antenna. This greatly improved the DSN's ability to receive faint signals from far away.
The Apollo Program: A Team Effort
The DSN played a vital role in the Apollo program, which landed humans on the Moon. NASA also had another network called the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN).
The DSN and MSFN worked together. The MSFN had antennas near the DSN sites. This allowed them to share resources and provide backup for each other. For example, if one network was tracking the Apollo Command Module orbiting the Moon, the other could track the Lunar Module on the surface.
This teamwork was especially important during emergencies. A famous example is Apollo 13. When the spacecraft had a serious problem, its normal antennas couldn't send strong enough signals. The DSN's largest antennas, along with the Parkes Observatory radio telescope in Australia, were crucial for receiving the weak signals and helping save the astronauts' lives.
To make this cooperation work, special "wings" were added to the main buildings at DSN sites. These wings had control rooms and equipment for the MSFN. This allowed DSN stations to quickly switch between supporting deep-space missions and Apollo missions without interrupting either.
The Viking Era: 1974 to 1978
The Viking program sent two spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2, to Mars. These missions were very complex. They needed the DSN to send powerful signals to Mars and to receive data from the orbiters and the landers on the surface.
The Viking landers sent back the first pictures from the surface of Mars! The DSN helped receive these images and other important scientific data.
Here's when the Viking spacecraft stopped working:
- Viking 2 orbiter: July 25, 1978 (after almost 2 years).
- Viking 2 lander: April 11, 1980 (after over 3.5 years).
- Viking 1 orbiter: August 17, 1980 (after over 4 years).
- Viking 1 lander: November 13, 1982 (after over 6 years).
The Viking 1 lander was found by another Mars spacecraft in 2006, about 6 kilometers from where it was supposed to land!
The Voyager Era: 1977 to 1986
After 1972, NASA focused more on exploring deep space, not just the Moon. The DSN launched a program to make its 64-meter antennas even bigger. From 1982 to 1988, the three main 64-meter antennas in Goldstone, Spain, and Australia were extended to 70 meters (230 feet)!
This upgrade made the antennas much more sensitive. This was super important for the Voyager spacecraft, especially when they flew past Uranus and Neptune. The stronger signals allowed Voyager to send back amazing science data and pictures from these distant planets. The upgrade also helped extend communication with Pioneer 10 even further into space.
The DSN also started working with radio astronomy observatories. For example, after the Voyager Uranus flyby, the DSN combined signals from the Parkes Observatory antenna in Australia with its own antennas. This made the DSN even more powerful.
When Voyager flew past Neptune in 1989, the DSN teamed up with several other observatories. The Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, which has 27 antennas, was equipped to communicate with Voyager. Combining the VLA's signals with Goldstone's antennas helped collect a lot of science data, especially for imaging Neptune and its moons and rings.
The Galileo Era: 1986 to 1996
The DSN doesn't just help NASA missions. It also provides emergency support to other space agencies around the world. For example, when the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) almost got lost, the DSN's largest antennas were essential in helping to recover the spacecraft.
